KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - If you showed up late, there is a chance this one might have been over by the time you sat down. Kirksville jumped all over Fulton and won going away 71-41 on Friday night.

Nichole Cook scored four points in the first 15 seconds, she scored the team’s first six points on her way to scoring 18. It was clear from the get go Fulton couldn’t handle Cook and the Tigers knew it.

“We were looking to get it into the paint a lot tonight and my guards did a great job of getting me the ball. We worked on getting the ball out on the fast break and they got me the ball and I was finishing,” said Cook.

The Lady Tigers were up 11-0 before the Hornets got on the board, the full court pressure defense was the key. Fulton struggled especially early handling the pressure on their way to committing 24 turnovers.

“I thought we did a much better job in transition offense tonight, that’s what we have been working on the past couple days. Our first quarter transition offense is what got us on top early,” said Kirksville head coach Sara Williams.

A big key in that transition offense was the play of senior point guard Kendyl Blanke, who besides taking care of the ball herself also dished out 10 assists. Turnovers are the best way to start the fast break, another way is by getting rebounds and with the play of Cook and Sarah Lamp on the inside, Kirksville took care of that as well.

As well as Cook and Blanke played, McKenzie Russell led the Lady Tigers with 19 points. Mid-way through the third quarter Russell hit a three-pointer, which pushed her over the 1000 career point mark.

Kirksville has a couple of interesting things going on at this point in the season. They play five games in 10 days, and they have dominated every opponent they have faced.

When dealing with the compressed schedule Cook doesn’t think it’s that big a deal.

“We had to juggle both teams’ game plans. We focused a little more on Fulton, just because we are more familiar with Macon,” said Cook.

Macon comes to Kirksville Saturday for a 6 p.m. game.

“The main thing is we have some sickness going around. So we did some more talking, got in and out, and talked about health and nutrition,” said Williams.

Coming off last season’s success and with the ease that the Lady Tigers seem to be winning with this season, one might think there could a let down waiting to happen, but the team’s makeup could keep it rolling.

Page 2 of 2 - “I think the biggest thing is that I’m a lucky coach and I have a really competitive group of girls who want it as bad as I do,” said Williams.